Carnax Rises!
by Xenolord
Summary: After opening a mysterious scroll in an unknown world, Maria is hurdled into the past, and forced to fight the one creature all of Lore feared: By her self! Final Chapter up. Many apologies about the wait, and a very big Gomen Nasi to Crystal Lion...
1. Time is a Fickle Thing

Carnax Rises!

Chapter One

It was a harmless-looking scroll. It didn't look different from the ones she had seen in the Guardian Tower or Yulgar's Inn. But this one _was_ different. It was enchanted by some magical spell that, when opened, hurled the reader through time to a random point in Lore's history.

She was just glad that it didn't knock her farther back then it did.

She found herself standing before a group of people she recognized instantly. Captain Krieger was standing in the middle with Galanoth on his right and E on his left. Behind E was Warlic and behind Galanoth were Aquella and Captain Rhubarb. Lore's finest was here to do battle. But against what?

"Who are you?" One of the people asked. Maria looked around, trying to regain her bearings. She hadn't quite taken grasp on the concept that she was knocked back in time.

"Come on, girl. Speak up. We haven't got all day." This voice she recognized as the voice of Paladin Atrix Krieger. "You wear the armor of a Battleon Guardian, but I don't recognize your face. What's your name?"

"My name's Maria. Maria Despair. You know me, Captain." Maria spoke, shielding her eyes from the sun. The younger-looking Atrix scanned her with scrutinizing eyes. After a few choice seconds, he shook his head.

"No, no I can't say I recognize you. But, just because I don't know you doesn't mean I'll stop you if you want to lend aid in beating that…_thing_." He flicked his head upwards, indicating something behind Maria.

"What thing?" He asked. She wished she hadn't. The moment those words left her mouth, a piercing screech echoed over the sands and mountains. Stiffly, the X-Guardian turned around. She came face-to-face with a gigantic iced leg, or arm or something. It was not four hundred meters in front of her, but still huge. Reluctantly, she looked up. Towering above her, Battleon, even the Guardian Tower, was a behemoth of a creature. A three-eyed, quad pedal monster. She'd heard horror stories and seen pictures of this thing, but never in her entire life has it graced her eyes in reality. She froze in fear.

"Carnax the Scourge. We had long heard stories about the beast, but never had we seen him for real. We put a call for all the adventurers and Guardians of Battleon to come to our aid, but they've not gotten here yet. So, if you truly are as you say, and as your armor looks, I want you to hold that creature off for as long as possible, at least until reinforcements arrive from Battleon. Can you do it?" Atrix asked, looking up at Carnax.

Maria took an extra glare at Atrix, and then spoke:

"I need a weapon."

"Great!" Atrix smiled. He moved aside, revealing a rack of blue Dragon blades. "Take one of these. They're a copy of the Dragon blade, forged with Azru Stones. Carnax is weak against Azru Stones." Maria walked up to the rack and ran an almost motherly hand across the various hilts. Her smile changed to that of an assassin who's job had just been completed, she grabbed one of the blades and pulled it free. Then, with her other hand, freed another. Spinning both blades around, she pivoted to face Carnax.

"All right, Carnax! Let's see if you're as tough as Captain Krieger tells me!" She shouted towards the creature.


	2. Rise of a Legend

Chapter Two

Maria dashed her way towards the horizon, in which Carnax was lumbering on. She had always heard stories of the day when Carnax rose up from Stonerule, but she was five at the time, oblivious to the threat Carnax really posed. How could she when she was only five?

"Hey, big, green and ugly!" She shouted towards the beast. It turned its massive head away from the group of Adventurers who were trying to destroy it. One of them was firing electrical bolts at it like crazy. It fully acknowledged Maria, turning its whole mass to face her. "I saved a little present for you!" She pushed off the ground, bring both swords up over her head, sailing towards the tower. Almost as if it took no effort at all, the beast whacked Maria with its head, knocking her crashing to the ground.

"Foolish girl! You cannot harm the creature! None of you can!" A voice called. Maria managed to get her bearing just enough to recognize the voice. 'Oh, no. Not him.' she thought. "Halt your thunderous movements, and turn your fetid breath away from me, foul beast! Now you shall feel the teeth of the greatest Guardian ever to grace the surface of Lore! Prepare to face Oblivion, behemoth, for it is I; MEGAPRIME!" MegaPrime shouted as he stood beneath Carnax.

"Move, you idiot! He'll crush you like a bug if you don't..." Maria was interrupted by Carnax bringing his huge metallic right forearm atop MegaPrime. The entire land shook at the impact. Above, where Stonerule used to lay, Jakel Sano was flying above, pelting his thick hide with magic. The X-Guardian ran over to the Wind Warlock as he flew to ground level. Off in the distance, where MegaPrime once stood, she could barely make out a hardly audible 'Ouch. Okay, yea, I'm hurt' emit from MegaPrime. "Ouch. I guess MegaPrime'll have to go and visit Twilly. Er...once he manages to hike a ride back from the over side of Lore, that is. What's the situation, Jakel?"

"Poor. Carnax is chewing through our defenses like tissue paper. Nothing we do can stop him. If Drakkonnen were here, and if we could convince him to help, we may stand a better chance."

"We don't need Drakkonnen when I'm here, Jakel. Get everyone to a safe place. Everyone. And what ever you do, DO NOT let anyone out of that place. Got it?" Maria stated, pointing a finger at him. He had a mixed look of relief and confuzlement on his face.

"Surly you don't plan of fighting it alone, do you? It's suicide! You saw what he did to MegaPrime! That thing can crush a man alive!"

"Jakel, MegaPrime can hardly be considered a man, and besides, when I get through with Carnax, I'll have him in bondage chains forcing him to call me Mistress!" Maria ran towards Carnax with weapons full spread. Jakel just hovered in mid-air with a dumb-founded expression upon his face.

The battle was already in full spread by the time the X-Guardian got to the front lines. Several young adventurers were laying dead upon the ground, blood pooling under them. She recognized one of the adventurers near the middle of the ranks.

"Amani! Amani! Come here!" She shouted to her. The timid-looking Amani sulked her way towards Maria.

"Yessum?" She asked stopping before her senior. Maria scanned the area, and watched Jakel lead a group of battle-weary fighters into a cave several hundred feet away.

"Do you see that cave in the distance? The one Jakel Sano is going into?" Amani followed her finger with her eyes, eventually coming to see the cave in question.

"Yes, ma'am. What can I do?" Maria leveled with Amani, crouching on one knee. Maria was only slightly taller then Amani, but she liked to be lower then the person she was speaking too.

"I need you to gather all of these people and lead them into that cave. Hopefully, they'll be safe from Carnax in there. And whatever you do, no matter what you hear from either myself or Carnax, you must not come out. Any of you. I'll provide a distraction. It won't be much, but it'll get you out of danger. Just tell me when you're ready to make your move." Amani inhaled deeply and nodded. "Great. Get going." Maria stepped forward in the ranks and faced Carnax one-to-one. As the adventurers fled towards the cave, Carnax followed them.

"Hey! Big green and smelly! Look at me, a tender little morsel!" The creature turned its massive head to face the X-Guardian, at which point, she proceeded to pull her lower eyelid down with her left index finger, flash him a raspberry and brandish her middle finger rather threateningly his way. Carnax studied the gesture for a moment before finally realizing its significance. This enraged the beast, who immediately began making quick movements towards Maria. She pulled her swords from the ground and waited for the behemoth to strike. Carnax stood before the X-Guardian and in one massive push, stood off of it's fore legs, completely supporting itself on it's hind legs.

"Oh, shit." Maria muttered, looking up, her heard taking shelter behind her pelvis. "You're a big one, aren't you?"


	3. What's the Fear of Being Trampled?

Chapter Three

What's the Fear of Being Trampled?

Maria stared up into Carnax's belly. The beast was huge as a quadruped, but as a biped, the creature doubled in hight. Even at such a great height, the X-Guardian could see it's red eyes twinkling in the clouds. As Maria was busy being flabbergasted, Carnax took the time to raise it's metal hand high into the sky. Releasing an unlorely scream, the air around Maria froze as a shadow formed under her.

"MARIA!" A familiar voice called from her side. A woman clad in blood red Guardian armor charged Maria and took diving tackle into her ribs, knocking her twenty feet away. Carnax's hand crashed into the ground, creating a crater the size of the Guardian Tower. The force knocked the X-Guardian from her trance.

"What the..." Maria questioned, looking at her savior.

"Hey, baby sister." Natalya smiled, standing up to let Maria up. "What are you looking at? The underside of this oversized beetle?" The woman asked, a naïve humor in her voice. Maria could just see the edge of her mouth flicker into a smile. "C'mon sis. Let's whip this thing raw!" She got off Maria, stood facing Carnax with her legs slightly apart, arms out, palms spread. The air around her grew unbearably hot, almost to the point of boiling the skin. "Soul of Akriloth! Time to wake up! I; Drakonnen, call upon you! Lend me thy strength! There's a cookie in it for you!" She added as a secondary note. Maria looked up to the sky. The once-clear sky was now becoming overcast. Something was outlined in the sky, but she just couldn't make it out. Thunder began to grace the sky. With each clash of thunder, Maria watched the outlined figure become corporeal, steadily turning solid. There came a great screech and everyone flinched, even Carnax.

"What the...AKRILOTH?" Atrix shouted behind her. The moment the Great Fire Dragon Akriloth became fully opaque, he dropped with frightening speed towards the ground. He was, at first, curled into a ball, almost like he was sleeping.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Natalya smiled, dropping her hands. The air temperature normalized. The dragon began to stir and eventually stood full up. Spreading his wings, Akriloth gave a great yawn.

"Oh, crap, man. How long have I been asleep? Most be, what, five years? Crap, I've got one hell of a crink in the neck. Hold up a sec, would you Drakonnen?" Akriloth asked, cracking his neck twice with two quick turns with his hands. He then turned around to face Natalya. "Oh, heya Drakonnen. Wow, you're looking sexy today. What can I do for you?" The Fire Dragon smiled, crouching down, putting his head on the ground.

"We've got a slight problem on our hands, and need your help." Natalya explained. Carnax screeched in the distance. Akriloth turned his head to face Carnax.

"Oh. Him. Yea, he's a pain in the hide, I know. Want me to fight him, or what?" Akriloth asked, again yawning. "Oh, sorry. Still waking up."

"No, not exactly. I was wondering if you could divy up your powers amongst myself, and my sister Maria here." Akriloth turned to face Maria, who had just gotten off the ground.

"Oh, so this is your sister? Pretty little thing isn't she?" He moved his head closer and started sniffing the X-Guardian. "Yea, definetly your kin. Smells just like you, with something..." He sniffed again. "Else? Is that Vampire I smell on you? Whoa, girl. What have you been doing with yourself? You smell HEAVILY of Vampire. Almost like you've slept with one." He smiled and laughed at what he thought was a joke. "Anyways, sure I can split my powers amongst the two of you."

"Three of us!" Another female voice shouted. Akriloth, Maria, Natalya and the others faced the direction. A woman of eerie presence was standing a little ways away, her red hair cracking in the light Taladosian wind.

"Who the hell?" Akriloth and Atrix asked simultaneously.

"SERRAS!" Maria blurted out. It was Serras Nerra, the Mage of Despair. She started to walk towards the three, the Blade of Insight fixed to her back. She came to a stop before Maria. "Serras, what the hell are you doing here?" Maria asked, looking into her eyes.

"Well, I saw how you, Crystal, your sister and Wolfblitzer got to the Isle d'Oriens, so I followed you. When you all went into the Lore Keeper's office, I followed. When I didn't see where you guys were I asked, and he said you opened the scroll. So I did too, and now I'm here." Serras smiled. "Pretty snazzy, huh?" This wasn't the Mage of Despair talking. It was the real Serras Nerra talking. The kind, caring Serras which held the darker side.

"What do you want?" Natalya questioned.

"Dunno. What are you guys doing here? What's there to do for fun?" Serras responded, looking about. She saw Carnax. "HEY! It's Carnax! Sweetness! We gonna fight him?"

"No, Serras. NATALYA and I shall fight him. I still don't completely trust you."

"Fair enough. But you might want to watch out. Carnax no like waiting. And your making him wait." Maria looked up to see Carnax raising his hand again.

"MOTHER OF PEARL!" Both Despair sisters shouted, diving in different direction to avoid being squashed. Then, Carnax lost his balance and dropped back to his four legs.

"Are you three gonna stand there and chat all day, because you've got a Scourge to destroy!" Galanoth shouted their ways.

"Right. Well, Serras, I'm willing to put my differences aside for now if you are." Maria picked up her swords which had been knocked aside from Natalya's tackle. She drew them up.

"I agree. Maybe after today, I can show you how thankful I am for containing the Mage of Despair."

"Yea, about her. Think you can control her?" Natalya asked.

"Oh, yea. She and I get along so much better now. Why?"

"I think we may need some help from her."

"Fair enough. Give me, like, three minutes." Serras dug to Blade of Insight into the ground before her and clasped her hand together before her face.

"Why?" Natalya questioned, dodging one of Carnax's eye lasers.

"She's asleep right now. Need to wake her up."

"Right. So, hey, sis. Wanna go Catpire-thingy on him?"

"Neh. There's such a thing as overkill. C'mon. Let's buy Serras some time." Maria lept towards the creature's massive leg with both swords spread.

"You mean you CAN score an overkill? Saweet!" Natalya smiled before snapping a finger. Her Guardian armor exploded off her body and began swirling around her in a circle, almost as if something held it there. As the pieces spun about her faster, they started to change shape, and even composition. She had a smile of content as the pieces finally collided onto her, forming the form everyone knows as Drakonnen. With a feminine grace, she held her right hand out open, a small flame sparking in her palm. She twisted her wrist about the flame as the spark grew and changed. With a flick of her wrist and a brilliant flash of light, the flame had materialized into a horned helmet. It was a visage of a gruesome skull with very sharp, almost vampiric teeth gracing where Natalya's mouth should be. "Alrighty, Akriloth. Be a dear and power the three of us up."

"It will be my great pleasure, O Great Drakonnen!" The monstrous dragon glowed bright red and finally dissipated, forming into three red spheres of energy. Each of the three spheres branched out and found it's target. The first, which originally comprised of the Fire Dragon's body and arms hit Natalya. The second, which was the Dragon's head and neck struck Serras, and the third, Akriloth's wings, merged with Maria, who, subsequently sprouted blood red Dragon wings from her back.

"I so do love being half dragon during ninety percent of my life..." The X-Guardian sighed with a sarcastic tone. "Alright, sis, you want the honors of first strike?"

"Nah. I've had enough. Have fun." Drakonnen urged her sister on. Maria complied with a quick cross-chop across Carnax's leg.


	4. What Maria Isn't

What Maria Isn't

Four

Carnax managed to fend off Maria's attacks once more, however with each passing moment, more and more of his strength fled him. Crystal Lion and Wolfblitzer, who had arrived some twenty minutes prior, were offering firing support from a nearby cliff top, while Maria, Natalya, and Serras charged head long. It seemed like those enchanted arrows Robina had provided Crystal and Wolfblitzer were actually doing a substantial amount of damage. Something Carnax noticed.

Giving Maria a good head butt away, Carnax turned his gaze towards the nearby cliff, where the arrows were coming from. Maria watched his third eye glow red and begin to pulse.

"CRYSTAL LION! WOLFBLITZER! MOVE!" Maria called just as the eye laser cut through the air and struck the ground at their feet. Their combined screams tore Natalya away from her attack and drew her attention. Serras, too has halted to take note of the commotion. The X-Guardian felt her jaw hit cold dirt with a dull thud. Completely ignoring her previous actions, Maria threw her weapons to the ground and ran towards where they once were. She scaled the cliff with little concern for herself. "CRYSTAL LION! WOLFBLITZER!" She shouted halfway up.

"Where the hell is she going!" Serras shouted at Natalya, who answered with a shrug. Upon reaching the top, Maria saw what had happened. It was not as she had originally feared, however it was far worse. The explosion made a decent sized crater, and within were the smoking bodies of Maria's two friends. She checked their pulse. Crystal's was long gone, she probably died from the initial blast. Wolfblitzer, however, had a very weak pulse. He was lying on his back, the bow still firmly cemented into his grip. Blood was trickling down one side of his mouth, and there was a huge piece of stonework shrapnel in his shoulder. His eyes flickered in place momentarily before they slowly rose open.

"Wolfblitzer, you idiot! Why didn't you move?" She shouted at him, feeling a tear break free and run down her cheek. The fallen Guardian said nothing, he only centered his head and smiled. "Yous stupid, stupid boy! Why didn't you move!" To this, Wolfblitzer offered no explination, just shut his eyes and whispered very faintly: "Fuck him up good for me, will ya, Maria?" His breathing stopped, and she knew he had overstepped his welcome on Lore. Her eyes were now just about drowning in her tears, something she tried to hide from Natalya and Serras.

"What the hell happened up there, do you suppose?" Natalya questioned to the Mage of Despair.

"I've no idea, my dear Drakonnen, no idea in the slightest." The well-spoken Mage frowned, which was so uncharacteristic of her. That was a bad sign. "Come, we must distract this Fell Beast, lest Maria fall prey to the same fate." She redirected her gaze to Carnax, who was prepairing another Eye Laser assault on top of his last one. "I think not!" Serras shouted, forming and launching a bolt of pure energy from her hand, which struck him right in the face, pulling his laser sharp up, the beam missing Maria by several feet. The distraught X-Guardian made no motion other then to sob uncontrollably over the bodies of Wolfblitzer and Crystal Lion, occasionally muttering a 'why didn't you move?' through the deluge of tears. In a mixture of rage and grief, she slumped over on top of the bodies and simply reverted to the state of that of a frightened three year old, sobbing and pounding her fist on his stomach.

"Serras! Some help here, please!" Natalya shouted as Carnax attempted to grab the eldest Despair sister for a mid-afternoon snack. Serras put one hand over her head.

"Ibu sulano SOMATSZTA!" She shouted, flinging an arched fireball right into the beast's third retina. Carnax responded by screeching in dire pain and rearing his head back. A clean-cut critical. "Ah, liked that one, I see. Well, howsabout, this?" Serras chuckled, putting both hands up. "Obidai Vertua SUTA!" The forming ball over her head broke into thousands of tiny shards of pale blue, then began to ignite in a equally-pale blue and streak towards the beast's face. This one was all the distraction Natalya needed to wriggle from Carnax's grip and drop to the ground.

"Thanks!" She shouted her way, letting an onslaught of fire magic right on top of the monster's ice hand. Serras winked at Drakonnen and continued her ruthless assault.

Meanwhile, Maria had all but come to her senses. She was now looking around for some kind of weapon she could use. A gold glint caught her eye. Wrenching the weapon from it's home, the body of it's former owner, all emotion melted away from her face as she walked towards Carnax. A powerful incantation escaped her lips on several occasions, but none of them were loud enough to wake the power they held.

"Look! You're sister is back with us!" Serras shouted, launching another ball of fire at Carnax.

"'Bout time, sis! What was the hold up...Oh, holy shit! Serras! Looks like Maria found herself a new sword!"

"I may not be the strongest...I'm weak...Pathetic...Minuscule... Nothing." She muttered still walking like a zombie towards the towering beast. "I'm not strong...I never will be...I never wanted this...I never wanted my friends to die...But you killed them. You...you forced me. YOU FORCED ME!" She shouted towards the sky, tears escaping her eyes. She stumbled forward, but regained quickly. "I didn't want to do this...I never wanted to condemn you to this...I only wanted it to stop. I ONLY WANTED YOU TO STOP!" Another outburst of rage. Her drunken speech was actually making Carnax stop. "But no. You had to go and destroy the second person on Lore who means anything to me. Their dreams, hopes, wants and everything they love are gone! GONE! Just as you will be. I may not be the strongest Guardian that ever lived. I may not be the fastest. Hell, I know I'm not the smartest. But I do have one thing going for me, Carnax. I'm god damn lucky! And know, you will feel the sharp sting of my luck!" Her next sentence was calm, almost planned. "Power Word Die." She pulled the sword, which everyone knew as the Blade of Awe upwards, with the blade pointed at Carnax's head.

Serras and Natalya shielded their eyes from the bright flash which followed. A golden pentagram appeared high in the sky between Maria and Carnax, which was slowly encircled by eight symbols, each one representing a different element. The eight symbols began radiating their respective colors; red for fire, gold for light, black for darkness, green for earth, navy for water, pale blue for ice, grey for wind and light yellow for energy. Each symbol then released a beam towards center of the pentagram, finally forming into one white pillar which extended to the ground.

"Dear god! She did it!" Natalya whispered, daring not to breathe.

"You called, Mistress?" A cold voice hissed. When Serras looked at who the voice belonged to, she was shocked. The very image of Death sent a cold shiver down her spine which pierced into her heart. Her mouth twitched as a silent 'Oh holy hell.' escaped, only to fade into nothing.

"I did." Maria responded, staring Death in the eyes. A stare that would send anyone packing.

"Well, then. Show me to thy enemy."

"Right..." Maria began, drawing her free hand up, all fingers save for her index retracting in, leaving her at a point, right at Carnax's forehead. "There." She finished. Death spun around, his scythe gripped fast in his bony hands.

"Ah. I see you have just reason to summon me. Which, may explain why I responded. But anyway. You want him dead, and so shall it be, Mistress!" The cloaked skeleton drew his weapon up, his eye sockets glowing red. "Prepare thyself for Oblivion, creature!" He shouted, charging. At the last second, he brought his scythe down over his target's neck. Almost as if everyone went deaf, all sound was drained from Lore. All the better, because as this happened, Carnax's mouth opened wide, a scream trying to escape, however failing. The ground shook as his heavy mass came crashing to the ground. Sound was restored, as was peace.

"There you go. All done! Anything else you'd have me do, Mistress?" Death questioned, his scythe glowing bright white.

"What?" Maria asked, her head tilting slightly.

"Well, I'm bound to repay the favor of the capture of such a specimen as Carnax with one of equal or lesser value. I will do all you wish, until you say 'enough' or the light of my scythe vanishes. So, what would you have me do, Mistress?" Maria was speechless. She looked around the battlefield, her vision blurred by her tears, the memories of her friends deaths still looming over her.

"I have two friends on the hill...they were killed..."

"Ah. Say no more. I shall revive them post-haste." The light dimmed unnoticeably "Anything else?" After much thought, Maria walked up to the figure and put her mouth to where his ear would be, whispering something. The light all but vanished, a small pulse could be detected in the mid-day sun. "That is a hefty request and, honestly, not really my jurisdiction, but it shall be done. I believe there is still enough light left for one more, small, request. What shall it be?" Maria needed no thought for this.

"I want you to release the Mage of Despair from the Blade of Insight. Allow her to reside within Serras, under check."

"It shall be done. And now, my debt is repaid. Until we meet again, Mistress..." In a quick burst of black light, Death vanished, and with him, the cold feeling withing Serras.

"Whoa. Flashy, no?" Natalya smiled, giving Serras a firm, but friendly slap on the back.

"Okay, I admit it, that was impressive." The voice of Galanoth muttered from a nearby dune.

"Impressive? The three of them single-handedly whooped Carnax for good!" Robina smiled, punching Galanoth's shoulder in a friendly manner.

"It was...Impressive. I'll say no more. Shall I tell Jackle to bring the others out of the cave?" Atrix only nodded.

"Ah, fuck!" Wolfblitzer's voice shouted from the hill. "Did we sleep through it?" He smiled. Maria wiped the tears away before turning to face him

"Hey, Wolfblitzer." She smiled mildly, walking his way. She saw Crystal Lion stand, and she broke into a run. She scaled the mountain quickly, nearly leaping from stone to stone to get to where they were.

"God, I feel like shit..." Crystal Lion's words were slurred, as she shook her head and the fatigue away. "Oh, hey, Maria. You kill Car-" She was cut off by the sea-foam Guardian planting a very serious kiss firmly on her lips.

"Oh, I see how it is!" His voice changed to a falsetto of Maria's "'Hey, Wolfblitzer.'" He waved weakly, then clasped his hands together. "Oh my god! Are you okay, Crystal Lion? I missed you so much! Can I sleep with you tonight?" His voice returned to normal. "Ugh, gir-" He was interrupted by the back of Maria's gauntlet catching right in the face. He collapsed with a very loud 'GWUGH!' and a dull thud.

"Uh...I missed you too, Maria..." Crystal Lion muttered, her eyes looking away, her cheeks very bright red. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Was that necessary?"

"Hey! Captain Lesbo! We gotta get back to our time!"

"Okay, Serras. How do you propose that?" Natalya asked, taking her helmet off.

"Maybe I can lend you some assistence." The voice of Warlic muttered.

--Isle d'Oriens--

"Oh, god. I hate time travel!" Wolfblitzer coughed as he was literally spit from the scroll. He stood up and started rubbing the growing welt on his forehead. "And that really freakin' hurt, Maria." he poked it with a finger. "Ow...Oh, yea that is gonna be sore for a while..."

"Have fun, did you?" Falerin asked, a sly smile displayed.

"Oh, yea..we had – ow! - oodles of fun! Oh, my poor head!" was Wolfblitzer's response.

"Did you have to leave that kick-ass sword behind?" Serras asked, looking at Maria. She only shrugged.

"It wasn't mine. I took it from a dead man. In respect, I returned it."

"It's not that easy, my dear." The Loremaster's voice drew her attention back to him. On the table before him was the very weapon Maria used to kill Carnax.

"How..."

"Allow me to elaborate, dear. The Blade of Awe is a special weapon in many terms. Power Word Die is just it's most well-know. You see, when one gets a Blade of Awe, the owner's genetic code is imprinted upon the sword's memory. As such, they will only serve that master. However, if the owner dies, the weapon has the ability to sense such an end, and it will erase it's memory of it's old users code, essentially becoming a black scroll, a scroll which anyone may write upon. You have written upon this specific Blade of Awe, and as such, you may not leave it, and it may never leave you. So long as you live." Maria took the weapon.

"You mean they're...alive?" Crystal Lion asked, looking at her own Blade of Awe.

"In a sense, Crystal, yes. They are alive. But only so long as the owner is. The Blade of Awe becomes an extension of it's user. The user's skill with weapons of it's caliber will be able to deal far more strikes in a quicker secession then one with not sword training could ever dream. In essence, the Blade of Awe is a learning weapon. With the user, it grows and changes. It will not stop, it cannot stop. As you no doubt have guessed, the skills of the previous user have already been imprinted upon the weapon, and the new skills it will experience in Maria's overly capable hands will only stack with what it already knows. That is why it is often easier to attempt to kill a person who already has a Blade of Awe, then it is to find the pieces on your own. A 'used', as it were, Blade, will deal more damage then a newly created one." Falerin concluded. Maria smiled, uddered a 'thank you', and followed Crystal Lion out.


End file.
